Beer: Reviews & Ratings

Hazy yellow gold color. Vinegar nose. Seriously tart. There are some faint fruity notes. After some sipping I just taste the lactic acid. Woody and a long relentlessly bitter aftertaste.

I would rate this well as a Sour. So why isn't this categorized as a lambic or a gueuze? I don't see how this is Saison, whatever Crooked Stave says. Something like the World Beer Cup style called "Belgian-Style Sour Ale" would make more sense.

This may be an excellent sour beer, but it's not a Saison. But I'm only being pissy because it makes my teeth hurt. From the 375 ml bottle purchased at Grapevine Liquors. Batch 10/2014. (619 characters)

Tart, acidic. Little bit of barrel. There's some spice to it. I should've known with the brewery but never quite know what you're getting with a lot of American saisons. I'd like to cut down about half the sour. Non-beer folks will comment positively on stouts but say they couldn't handle an entire pint. I'll struggle through this one.

A: Pours a slightly hazed amber/orange color. A tiny, bubbly white head forms, and fizzles out in a second. Seriously lacking in retention and lace.S: Earthy, musty yeast. An acidic, nondescript fruity aroma, maybe cherries? Some wood aromas linger.T: A sour and acidic bite up front. Tart cherries and tannins, but other than that pretty much nondescript. Wood lingers in the finish which makes everything murky and muddled.M/D: A light body with moderate to high carbonation. Really watery, muddled, tannin like and blah. No definition here. The acidity itself is not that unpleasant, but really nothing else perks my interest. Which makes this a bit of a chore to finish.

Just a nondescript acidic and sour note with no definition. Of my recent Crooked Stave get, I looked forward to this the most but ended up the most disappointed. I have another bottle, so I will be giving it another try, but this left me flat. (953 characters)

375 ml bottle purchased from Whole Foods and poured into a Spieglau stemmed Pilsner glass. Too yeasty and too sour for me. Not refreshing like a saison should be. Prefer quite a few others to this. (197 characters)

A: Pours a hazy dark gold color. There isn't much of a head at all, just a thin white film to cap this one off. Not exactly impressive looking.

S: I'm surprised how sour this is. There's a good vinous character (such as white grape) along with a little oak. While this one smells nice, there isn't much to the nose apart from tartness and oak. Very little discernible bretty funk, unfortunately.

T: Not as tart as the nose indicated - but on the plus side, I'm getting more of the brett notes I missed in the aroma. The initial flavors are slightly sour, though. It finishes with notes of white wine, grape, and lemon. A good saison, just one that's more simplistic than I expected.

M: This one isn't as dry or as well carbonated as it could/should be. Having said that, this is rather refreshing in feel. The relative lack of carbonation makes it seem almost syrupy - and a saison (especially one with brett) should NEVER be syrupy.

O: I enjoyed this, mainly because it's slightly more tart than the average saison. Still, it's missing a certain X factor to make it great - maybe it's the lack of carbonation, or the fact that the brett notes are rather generic. Overhyped and overpriced; I pray that this isn't going to be a trend with future Crooked Stave beers. (1,320 characters)

375ml bottle $6.99. Bright yellow-orange color, decent head that disappeared quickly, looks nice in a wine glass. Aroma is pretty much all brett to me, a bit of that animal funk and a tinge of lemon, not bad. Flavor is more brett and it does have a slight tartness to it as described on the label. Overall this was a decent beer but I just think most of the Crooked Stave beers are priced higher than the quality of the beer. (425 characters)

Condensed notes from a Crooked Staves/saison tasting hosted by BA ShitBirdKing47. The brew pours a clear yellow color with white head that fades leaving spotty lace on the glass.

The aroma is vinous and somewhat blended in with vinegar. The barrel character comes across like raw oak. Some funk evolves as it warms.

The taste has as much vinegar as you might guess based off the aroma. Slight vinous hints are quite enjoyable before the raw barrel flavor comes into play with wheat and funk.

This is a light bodied brew with a modest level of carbonation. Overall it is easy drinking with minimal alcohol impact but the overall arrangement of character was a bit awkward for a saison. I am admittedly not a fan of vinegar in any beer, especially saisons and that was a pretty significant role in this brew. (809 characters)

Poured into a tulip. I got this a while ago, I guess it's close to two years old at this point.

3.75 A: First pour yielded a ever so slightly hazed dark orange color. Big white fluffy head necessitated multiple pours. Retention is good and a half finger of lacing is left.

4.00 S: Very nice nose on this. The main aromas are equal parts fruit and funk. Peach, cherry, lemon with just a touch of mango. Funk is a dirty woodiness, grass and dry hay, and wildflower floral. Neither sour nor tart, but quite complex.

3.50 T: Taste isn't as good as the nose promised. It's a lot drier than I was expecting and without as much of the fruitiness. There's still a decent amount of lemon though giving this a punch of tartness. Woody dry funk with some of the dirty hay notes. Not as complex as the nose.

3.25 M: Lighter medium body. Despite the large head, this has a lower level of carbonation and isn't as spritzy as I would have hoped. Still, it's smooth and good enough here.

Not quite sure what to expect, as this came as something of a blind recommendation.

Poured carefully into tulip glasses since there is sediment at the bottom of the bottle. Almost no head. Beer is cloudy apricot gold color, but we hadn't let the bottle settle before opening, so yours may be different..

Very sour up front. Bottle says it's "vinous" which is very true. Very dry like a champagne. The taste doesn't have the sweetness or fruitiness that's on the nose. Finish is grainy and/or funky -- maybe even the barrel -- and it coats the mouth. Much more earthy than I'd expect from a saison.

Swirled the lees and poured them in. Still drinkable, maybe mellower -- less sharply sour. I might get some more sweetness/fruit with the lees -- I think I prefer them in rather than out.

May not buy it again because I admit that sours aren't my favorite style. But especailly on pouring the lees, this one grows on me. (1,005 characters)

A: Poured a cloudy 24k golden color with a nice white whiespy cap, good head retention leaves behind some good lacing and a nice white collar clinging to the edge of the glass

S: Light tartness on the nose, youg Brett provides plenty of poopy bbaby diaper on the nose with a measure of hay, fruit and light spice

T: Initial fuky, tartness but light with some underlying citrus, apples, pears but the baby diaper is strong with this one. The finish is dry, a little bit of sweetness, crisp and airy, refreshing with light and lingering horseblanket, fruits, baby diaper.

M: Light-medium body, well carbonated, lots of flavor on the palate

O: Nicely done. No major complaints besides letting the breet chill out for about 6 months and maybe the baby diaper will pass on. (773 characters)

From a 375 ml into a tulip. (Caveat, not sure if this Surette is the same as the older Surette?)

A-A normal pour produces more than one, but less than two fingers of dense, shiny, off-white head. The brew is murky, and golden-orange in color with some visible carbonation.

S-The smell is mildly tart and lactic. I get a decent amount of funk and brett-like scents, as well as some lemon curd flavor. Par for the Crooked Stave course, I guess.

T-I taste mild tartness, with a decent hit of sweetness. There is some mild citrus that transitions to a drying oak flavor. Not terribly complex, but not unpleasant.

M-This brew has a nice feel. A creamy wave of carbonation gives way to slightly wet feeling finish. True to the style.

O-Although this is a decent saison, with some nice flavors and an above-average mouthfeel, this is far from the most intriguing beer I have had from Crooked Stave. It lacks the complexity and intrigue of the old-world styles and it isn't exactly a hit-you-on-the-head new-world monster (with tons of flavor or pucker power). Instead, this is a decent effort, but nothing I need to search out. (1,126 characters)

Pours a golden hazed ale with a solid quilt of loose whites. Smells funky with a bit of lemon and some oak, and some pear as well. Flavor is slightly tart, with some cherry, lemon and apple juice, some grain and a touch of bitter. Thin with a moderate carb and a wet finish. Good stuff. (300 characters)

Taste - The beer is modestly sour and tart. The taste is very un-beer-like and I do not mean that in an entirely negative way. This is tasty and refreshing, and would be a great drink on a hot summer day. Taste is dominated by apple, vinegar and white wine. Some grassy, barnyard flavors, lemon citrus and perhaps a little oak. Hops and malt flavors are undetectable to me. I am really amazed at how apple wine like this beer is, not your typical Saison. Very tasty if you are looking for something like this. I think this would be more interesting with a stronger hop or malt presence to balance things out.

Mouthfeel - A bit thin. My bottle had very slight carbonation which I see differs a bit from other reviews. The flatness of the pour may have effected the taste profile and my review. I will try to weak out another bottle for comparison someday. (1,140 characters)

Pours a very hazy dark golden orange color with cloudy tangerine edges and a half finger off white head that quickly settles into a lasting ring. Sporadic streaks and spots of soapy lacing left behind.

Musty, funky aroma with wild bugs, damp oak and a subtle sweet vinous barrel presence. Strong citric acidity with zesty lemon juice, acetic vinegar, lactic cheesiness, pale malt, bready yeast and light fruit esters. Some peppery clove in there as well but the acidic character, barrel notes and vinous fruits stand out. Almost Gueuze like with a subtle horseblanket smell along with lactic funk, wild bugs, damp earth, dry oak and dusty cobwebs. Some bread/yeast as well as hints of apple, pear and lemon rind. The vinous presence is there but not as strong as in the Vieille with a touch of dark fruit sweetness. Decent but something is lacking that I can't quite put my finger on.

On the lighter end of medium body with a tart, puckering mouthfeel and prominent acidic sourness that lingers over the earthier flavors and vinous barrel notes into a dry, acetic finish. Feels more like an American wild ale with little saison character to speak of. There is some funk but I'm guessing it's from the bugs and acidity. Vinous barrel presence really stands out with dry oak and sweeter fruit notes, especially apricot and dark berries. Lots of zesty lemon acidity dominating the flavor with lingering acetic vinegar in the finish. Not harsh or solvent like but makes the beer feel a bit one dimensional. Pretty much just tart citrus acidity, dry oak, subtle vinous fruit and lingering acetic acid. Refreshing and somewhat drinkable but not very complex or interesting. (1,685 characters)

Taste - Much less of the metallic notes here. Very fruity. Apples again. Lemony tang. Quite malty, surprisingly. The metallic flavor shows itself in the very end as the sourness drops off leaving metal.

Mouthfeel - Slick and a little heavier than I expected. Medium to medium heavy. Well carbonated.

Overall - Nice aside from the metallic flavor. Very malty, not what I expected. (651 characters)

A: Pours a clear apricot orange with a very short lived off-white head.S: Tons of sweet and fruity esters mix with dry yeast, mild spice, and woody oak. I also get notes of ripe banana yeast that smells like banana ice cream.T: Fruity and tart with flavors of earthy spice, mildly funky yeast, and dry grains. There is an underlying apple juice quality that I'm not sure I love. The finish has a bright tartness to it along with a sour quality reminiscent of fruit rind and brett. The aftertaste is sweet and fruity.M: Scrubbing carbonation, medium-full body with a slick and drying mouthfeel that has a nice chew to it. Drinks well, but on the sweeter side.O: A delicious saison. Clean and easy to drink, but nothing earth shattering. Just the right amount of funk and tartness. (835 characters)

Pours a murky orange with a foamy bone head that settles to wisps of film on top of the beer. Tiny dots of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of malt, grain, yeast, and sour aromas. Taste is much the same with some sour fruit flavors on the finish. There is a mild amount of acidity on the palate with each sip. This beer has a good level of carbonation with a crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a good beer that is tasty and easy to drink. (529 characters)